BlogHer Inc. is a new kind of media company, created in partnership by, for and with women, and men, who are leaders across blogs and social media and are passionately committed to quality content. The BlogHer community reaches an audience of 92 million across premium blogs, Web sites, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter (May 2013, Nielsen Site Census).

Step 1: Take a deep breath. OMG, right? Big news. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe you suspected this was coming. But you should still breathe anyway because you need do that to keep being alive. So this step applies no matter what. Get some oxygen into you.
...more

I haven't been writing much lately. I feel like a non-writing jerk who doesn't have her priorities straight. But my heart's just not in it. My heart is elsewhere, with a kid who is having a tough time and needs her mom.
...more

I cried far too much today.
I cried because I have a sweet little ten-year-old boy who needs me to be a lot stronger than I am.
I cried because I can't seem to give him what he needs, get him what he needs.
I cried because he told us he's sad all the time, he can't make his brain shut off, he feels weird and out of place in this world, and he wishes he could be more like his brothers.
I cried harder still when he saw me crying and reassured me that he was going to get better.
...more

News had started coming in of the tragedy in Boston on Monday afternoon as I was getting ready to pick up my boys from school. We just moved to our home last week, and it was their first day in their new classrooms in a new city. My heart had been in my throat all day as I wondered if they were making friends and learning the routine. And then this. This heartbreaking, senseless tragedy that seemingly came out of nowhere -- again.
...more

A friend of mine texted this afternoon in the midst of a crisis. She couldn't locate her giant box of nail polish and was afraid she'd thrown it out in a fit of overzealous purging. She asked if I had any she could borrow.
I can see why she asked. I don't do nail polish often, but I do have some fabulous colors. I am a maven, after all. We don't doneutrals.
As soon as I took out my own box of polish, six-year-old Spawnling ran up to me excitedly and slapped his hands down on the table. "Can you color my nails, mom? Please?"...more